Turbine-impact drill



Oct. 14, 1952 w. R. PosTLEwAn-E TURBINE-IMPACT DRILL 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed April 14, 1948 lNvENToR WILLIAM R PosTLEwAITE ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 14, 1952 "rfU,REINE-IMPAor` DRILL William; R'. Postlewaite, Menlo Park, Calif.-, as-

' signor', bygmesneassignments, of Vone-half-to California Research Corporation, San Fran-- cisco, Calif, a...corporation of Delaware, and onehalf tol A. O. Smith, Corporation, Milwaukee,Wis`.,- a corporation of New York;A

Application April 14, 1948;` SerialiNo. 2,1;083

1924'and'toLloyd Yost' No. 2,348,047', issued May 2, 1944;- have utilized"tllesimplerotation setup inthe axial shaftlw-hich is-turned `-byappropriately:.inclinediturbine blades or vanes.A This-invention. is intended to provide l additional. meansiforv imparting. periodically a sharp downwardv blow cir-impacttothe rotating drill bit, to facilitate itsf penetration into very hard formations.

One arrangement for imparting impact to'. a conventional-drillbit rotated by; meansnofia hollow shaft driven from;motive power at the surface isthat. of; the United: StatesV Patent: No. 2,4255012; issuedvAugusti; 19.457 to R.y E. Snyder. That lde vicefutilizesadragmember-designedgto be restrained: only -by the drillingr fluid 1 and thusto providel relative rotation to; coopera-ting cams which liftgan annular;hammerr tor impartperiodically aV downward shockorl impact to the drill bit. Such anarrangement hasf the disadvantage oflack.I of positive/means forV restrainingffone of the cams, which isovercome the-combination which will: be described below.

1 Claim. (CL. 2553-.-4i4--) The-present invention is directed -broadlyftothe combination of a3 hollowpipe or;- conduiti which extends.downwardly.l from the` surface tosa prime mover,V` deSIably` a drillingv fluid-driven` turbine element having,N a housing secured .to `theconduit and invwhich there rotates.l aC shaftcarrying a drillbitvv of any. desired` type. A weight member orA hammer, desirably, surrounding the shaft abovethe. bit, is keyed. or otherwise slidably-f se.- curedto the housing,andjlifting meansysuch as an inclined cam face areY provided on the shaft which cooperate with, corresponding meansz on the-hammer to liftv the latter due to the shaft rotation-andigiermitl it to drop againto impart the impact or shockto-thedrill bit. .Desirablyg but not` necessarily, av springl between the housing.' and thesliding weight maybel provided` to urge. the latter downwardly-- andv increasey the sharpness' of the blowl andl` thus permit higher rotativev speeds.. without undue time-1 lag between the-release ofthe hammer 'and its impactagainst the bit structure. It vis, alsodesirable tha-tfthe turbine thrust bearing be of a typeadapted to absorb the periodic impactsgenerated-J by the hammermechanism.

yAn alternative to the shock absorbing type of thrust-bearing arrangement is an elongated drill collarv which maybe splinedto the lower end of; the turbine shaft and, mounted" above `the rotationv restraining; means of the impacthammer and lower shaft to, which the drill bitmay` be secured. This permits using` rigid types of `thrust bearings in the turbine mechanism.

ItA is an object of, this invention to provide a combination of `a prime mover located adjacent the bottom of a relativelyr stationary conduit,

which may beY drill pipe extending., frommhe top o f a,well..bore,/ to rotate ashaft carrying a cam whiehA is adapted. to cooperate with. amsecond l cam slidably secured tothe 1ower'end-of the prime mover housing. so, as to lift and release periodically aweight or hammer member and impart impact' to adrillibitatthe lower endof the entire assembly.

Another object isto, provide a combination of a turbine drill of the ,nature described with an impact mechanism so thatthe latter, will be positively, actuated at, least. once. each revolution of theA turbinefshaft.

Another-object. is to provide an arrangement of the type described in w-hichtheL dead weight or load on the .bitdue to, gravity may bev controlled, asby apredeterminedV length of drill collarl and on which may be superimposed-a periodicl impact eiect due4 toanA annular hammeractuated by the rotationl of the p turbine shaft relative to the;turbinehousing.v o

'Il'iese andV other objects andl advantages4 will be further apparent .fromgthe following description;.of; apreferred a embodiment of' the invention togetherv withy certain alternatives; and.Vv fromvv thel accompanying drawingsifwhich form a. partxofr this specification.. and `illustrate typicalgconstructionsembodying:A the invention. f

lnx4 the: drawings,l7i'gure 1 is a4 longitudinal sectional view` of a. well drilling toolv embodying this invention.A i

ligura 2 isa transverse sectional view Online IIa-Heet the arrangement shown in- Figurev 1."

Figure 3 isv a side elevational viewfofa part of the arrangement of AFigure 1 shov'ving-tltie slidableweight and cam imposition to deliyeran impact toa'` drill bit (notshown). j v

Figure 411s aY longitudinal sectionallviewiof an alternative arrangement to" that of Figure 1 in which a drill collar is positioned within the lower end of the housing below the turbine elements to control the weight on the drill bit.A

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional View on line V-V of the arrangement of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view on line VI-VI of the arrangement of Figure 4.

Referring `to the drawing and particularly to Figure 1, reference numeral II) illustrates a prime mover housing at the lower end of a relatively stationary pipe or conduit which extends to the top of the well Ibore and is suitably supported there by the usual hoisting means` (not shown) such as are used for deep Well drilling. In this example, drilling fluid is supplied to the upper end of the conduit and ows downwardly therethrough to a turbine element which may be that of the Scharpenberg Patent No. 1,482,702 or the Yost Patent No. 2,348,047. The lower end of the driven shaft ofthe turbine element is desirably coaxial with housing I!) and is designated by reference number Il. Shaft II is preferably hollow as at I2 to conduct the drilling fluid, which forms the motive power for the turbine or prime mover, downwardly to the drill bit which will be described below.

In order to absorb the shock orv impact developed by means which will be described below to prevent wear or damage to the turbine elements, it isdesirable to provide thrust bearing sleeves I3 which may be suitably secured within housing I 0, and corresponding rings I3 on turbine shaft II, with intermediate resilient members I5, which may be rubber, neoprene or the like,` secured to'the top and bottom faces of rings I4. To maintain theV axial alignment `of shaft I I within housing I0, renewable bearing sleeve I 6 secured within housing I and shaft sleeve I may be mounted as shown, with a hardened face member I3 on sleeve I1 adapted to bear against a resilient sleeve member I9, which may also be rubber, neoprene or the like. In the arrangement shown, a threaded retainer is adapted to be received within housing I0 to hold sleeves I3 and I6 within the housing.

At the. lowervend of shaft II. isan anvil member 2|, in this example connected to the shaft by a threaded joint 22. If desired, anvil 2| could be made integral with the shaft. Anvil ZI also serves as a sub to which drill bity 23 may be secured by the threaded connection 2t. Bit 23 is provided with the usual central passage 25 which receives the drilling fluid from the lower end of passage I2 of shaft I I to conduct it to the eyes of the bit in the usual manner. l

Surrounding that portion of shaft II which extends below housing IIJ is an annular hammer or weight 26, provided with an enlarged bore 2'1 at the upper and lower ends of which are guide lugs.28 and 29 (Figure 2). The upper `'end of hammer 25 is desirably reduced in diameter to be received for a short distance within the lower end of housingl and is prevented from rotation therein by means of longitudinal keys 3G welded or otherwise secured to the hammer and adapted to move longitudinally within slots 3| (Figure 3) in the housing. By the means just described, hammer 26 is permitted to move longitudinally with respect to the lower end of shaft II and is positively prevented from rotating with the shaft by the inter-engagement of keys 30 in slots 3I offthe housing IB. n

In this' example Ithe lifting and releasing or dropping function of hammer 26 is provided by an inclined cam face 32 at the upper end of anvil 2I which coopera-tes with a correspondingly formed cam face 33 at the lower end of ham-mer 25. When shaft II carrying anvil 2| rotates as shown by the arrow of Figure 3, the cooperating faces 32 and 33 will cause hammer 26 to be lifted until the vertical steps 34 and 35 on anvil 2l and hammer 23,v respectively, reach the position shown in that figure, whereupon the hammer will be released to be dropped against the anvil to give an impact to it and to drill bit 23. Desirably but not necessarily the effective impact may be increased and the hammer travel time decreased -by a spring 35 which, in this example, is placed between the upper face of hammer 2S and a guide bushing 3'! within housing I3. Drilling iluid which may enter casing II! above hammer 25 is vented through ports 3S.

The alternative arrangement of Figure 4 illustrates the upper end only of a modification in which the lower end of shaft I I from the turbine element or prime mover, which could be that of the Scharpenberg or Yost patents referred to above, is splined as at 4D within a hollow connecting member 4I. lShaft II enters member Y#5I through a guide bore 42 which is desirably sealed as at 43. Vents Il@ permit the drilling fluid which is used as motive power for the turbine element, to pass freely into and out of shaft II, depending upon the longitudinal position of the splined portion 46 in connecting member 4 I.

The lower end of member 4I is connected to an elongated heavy weight member 45, commonly designated a drill collar, by means of a threaded connection 46. In the arrangement shown, turbine housing I il is extended downwardly to enclose the full length of drillcollar '45, the latter being centered in the housing by rubber guide bearings Il? which `are desirably longitudinally slotted in the conventional manner as at 48. A second shaft 49 extends downwardly from the lower end of drill collar I5 through a hammer or weight member 26, the lower end of which is provided with a cam face 32 as in Figure 1,

.to an anvil member ZI having a corresponding cam face 33 and drill bit 23 (not shown).

'Ihe primary purpose of the alternative of Figure 4 is to permit substantial longitudinal mo; tion of the assembly comprising member 4I, drill collar 45, shaft 49, anvil ZI and drill bit 23 with respect to the turbine shaft II and housing Ill. Accordingly, the longitudinal slots at the lower end of housing I Il which are engaged by the rotation-preventing means for hammer 26 are correspondingly elongated as at 3H) to accommodate keys 3Go (Figure r4).

In conclusion, it will be appreciated that this invention comprehends broadly a combination of elements particularly adapted to be connected to the lower endv of a pipe or conduit extending fromthe surface of a drilling well, with a prime mover, which may be a mud driven turbine, adjacent the lower end of the casing to rotate a drill bit, the particularlynovel features in? cluding an impact hammer or weight with inclined faces or analogous means tobe lifted by the relative rotation of the drill'bit with respect to the prime mover housing to impart periodic downward impact to the bit and thus facilitate removal of hard or brittle rock formations. Although specic embodiments 'of thisV arrangement have been described and illustrated, it is obvious that numerous changes could be made therein without departing from the invention, and all such modifications and 'changes that come within the scope of the appended claim are intended to be embraced thereby.

I claim:

In a rotary-impact Well drilling tool adapted to be positioned at the lower end of a conduitl extending downwardly from the surface and including a prime mover adjacent the lower end of the conduit having a 'housing connected to said conduit and a downwardly extending rotatable shaft concentric therewith, the combination comprising an elongated drill collar connected to said shaft and splined therewith to be longitudinally movable, a second concentric shaft below said drill collar and rotated thereby, the lower end of said second shaft adapted to receive a drill bit, a Weight slidably and rotatably mounted on said second shaft, longitudinally movable means connecting said housing and said weight for restraining said weight from rotation relative to said housing, an inclined 6 face on said weight and means on said second shaft engaging said inclined face for periodically liftingl and dropping said weight onto said second face due to rotation of said shaft.

WILLIAM R. POSTLEWAITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,482,702 Scharpenberg Feb. 5, 1924 1,607,082 Howcott Nov. 16, 1926 1,899,438 Grant Feb. 28, 1933 2,348,047 Yost May 2, 1944 2,350,364 Menhall June 6, 1944 2,371,248 McNamara Mar. 13, 1945 2,425,012 Snyder Aug. 5, 1947 

